Walter
Mondale, the son of a Methodist minister, was born in Ceylon, Minnesota
on 5th January, 1928. After graduating from the University of Minnesota
in 1951, he served in the United States Army.
He later returned to University of Minnesota and graduated with a
law degree in 1956.
A member of the Democratic Party Mondale
worked as a lawyer in Minneapolis and as attorney general of Minnesota
before being elected to the United States Senate in 1964 to fill the
vacancy caused by the resignation of Hubert
Humphrey.
In
the Senate he supported open housing, racial integration of schools,
migrant worker protection and tax reform. He was also an opponent
of the Vietnam War. Mondale also served
as chairman of the Select Committee on Equal Education Opportunity.
In 1976 Jimmy Carter selected Mondale
as his running mate and after the defeat of Gerald
Ford became vice president. In this role he supported legislation
on trade union reform, an increase in the minimum wage, and tighter
control on U.S. intelligence operations.
Carter
and Mondale were defeated by the Republican
Party candidate, Ronald Reagan, in
1980. Four years later, Mondale was the Democratic
Party presidential candidate. He campaigned in favour of a nuclear
freeze, a reduction in the federal budget deficit, and the Equal Rights
Amendment (ERA) but was easily defeated by Reagan.
After the election Mondale became a partner in the Dorsey & Whitney
law firm in Minnesota and was chairman of the National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs (1986-1993), an organization the
conducts international programs to help maintain and strengthen democratic
institutions. Mondale's work was especially successful in Poland
and Hungary.
In
1993 Mondale was appointed as ambassador to Japan. After retiring
from the post in December 1997 Mondale rejoined the law firm of Dorsey
& Whitney.
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